02430cam a22002777 4500001000700000003000500007005001700012008004100029100002100070245012900091260006600220490004200286500001600328520115000344530006101494538007201555538003601627690009501663690012301758690005501881700002201936710004201958830007702000856003802077856003702115w18918NBER20170817232039.0170817s2013 mau||||fs|||| 000 0 eng d1 aBerndt, Ernst R.10aPrice Indexes for Clinical Trial Researchh[electronic resource]:bA Feasibility Study /cErnst R. Berndt, Iain M. Cockburn. aCambridge, Mass.bNational Bureau of Economic Researchc2013.1 aNBER working paper seriesvno. w18918 aMarch 2013.3 aWe estimate hedonic price indexes for clinical trial research, an important component of biomedical R&D, using a large sample of agreements between trial sponsors and clinical investigators obtained from Medidata Solutions Worldwide Inc. Nominal prices measured as total grant cost per patient rose by a factor of 4.5 between 1989 and 2011, while the NIH Biomedical R&D Price Index (BRDPI) focused on input costs rose only 2.2-fold. Most of the disparity appears to be attributable to changes in the nature and organization of clinical trials: during this period the average number of patients per site fell substantially while "site work effort" more than doubled. After controlling for these changes in the characteristics of investigator agreements using a variety of methods based on hedonic regressions, we find that the estimated rate of inflation in clinical trials costs tracks the BDRPI very closely. Results from this study suggest that it should be feasible for statistical agencies to develop a producer price index for this type of R&D activity, contributing to broader efforts to develop a deflator for contracted R&D services. aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers. aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. aMode of access: World Wide Web. 7aE31 - Price Level • Inflation • Deflation2Journal of Economic Literature class. 7aL65 - Chemicals • Rubber • Drugs • Biotechnology • Plastics2Journal of Economic Literature class. 7aO49 - Other2Journal of Economic Literature class.1 aCockburn, Iain M.2 aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 0aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)vno. w18918.4 uhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w1891841uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w18918